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Advent Reflections

By Tiziana Dearing, co-director of the Center for Social Innovation at Boston College

Tiziana Dearing is professor for macro practice at the Boston College School of Social Work, co-director of the Center for Social Innovation, and founding co-director of Research in Social, Economic and Environmental Equity (RISE3). She writes and teaches on social innovation and leadership; poverty and inequity, especially in urban environments; and social justice in public policy. Her most recent publications include Managing for Social Impact: Innovations in Responsible Enterprise, which she co-edited with Dr. Mary J. Cronin of BC’s Carroll School of Management, and “Social Services, Social Justice and Social Innovations: Lessons for Addressing Income Inequality,” in the journal Religions.

Prior to becoming a professor at BC, Tiziana led a number of anti-poverty organizations, including Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston, where she was the first woman president. Tiziana also served as the executive director of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University and spent nearly a decade as a management consultant both to Fortune 500 companies and to mission-driven nonprofit organizations.

Tiziana blogs for national and local outlets including The Huffington Post and WBUR’s Cognoscenti and provides frequent media commentary to both local and national outlets. She serves on a number of charitable boards and advisory councils such as SparkShare, BC’s Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy, 90.9 WBUR, UTEC, and InnerCity Weightlifting. Tiziana has a BA from the University of Michigan and an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Advent Reflections 2017

John the Baptist was so committed to his message, and that message was so fringe compared to the common beliefs and practices of his time, that at the height of his preaching he was living in the desert, wearing the equivalent of a burlap sack, and subsisting on locusts and wild honey in order to speak his truth. Sometimes, it feels nearly impossible to grasp how radical he and his message were. He was the embodiment of being a “courageous witness to Christ in the places where you live and work.” » Click here to read more

As Pope Francis says, Advent is a time to prepare ourselves for the birth of Christ, the manifestation in human form of God’s infinite love for us. The world around us feels so angry and fearful—so full of negative energy—that it can be incredibly hard to return our hearts to the childlike innocence that would allow us fully to experience the miracle of God’s love. That child still lives in us, however, and a thoughtful change in focus can help us rediscover it. » Click here to read more